1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lesion portion determining method of an infrared observing system, and more particularly, to a method for determining the lesion portion in the body cavity by using an infrared observing system for observing the body cavity with infrared rays. Further, particularly, the present invention relates to a lesion portion determining method of an infrared observing system which can identify the lesion portion of the ischemic disease by capturing bloodflow information of the living body with image pick-up means in the infrared observing system and by displaying the captured information, and can easily perform the surgical treatment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, an endoscopic surgical operation is widespread by inserting an endoscope in the body cavity such as the abdominal cavity and thoracic cavity for the surgical operation. An endoscope apparatus used for the above-mentioned endoscopic surgical operation includes an electronic endoscope using an image pick-up device such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device).
A conventional electronic endoscope displays a clear moving image in realtime on a color monitor. Therefore, the conventional electronic endoscope has been recently widespread. An endoscopic image is captured by the electronic endoscope and then is displayed on the monitor via predetermined signal processing. In the normal case, for the endoscopic image, visible light is used as observing light so that an observed image is close to a result of direct viewing.
An endoscope monitor receives four signals comprising a synchronous signal and a signal R, a signal G, and a signal B indicating a red component R, a green component G, and blue component B. Mainly, a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) or LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) device displays the signals R, G, and B corresponding to phosphor dots which generate red, green, and blue light.
In the above-mentioned endoscopic surgical operation, the open surgery, which is conventionally operated under the celiotomy or thoracotomy, is performed by a predetermined endoscope system and a dedicated therapeutic instrument (operation tool) used for the endoscopic surgical operation. Advantageously, the invasiveness to a patient is suppressed.
Specifically, in the laparoscopic operation, the operation is accomplished only by opening a plurality of (three or four) holes corresponding to the size of φ5 mm to φ12 mm to insert a laparoscope in the abdominal wall. Therefore, as compared with the conventional open surgery, a so-called patient QOL (Quality Of Life) is excessively improved, e.g., the pain reduction after the operation, reduction of a period of admission to hospital, and cosmetic point.
The endoscopic operation is used for many diseases. In the thoracoscopic operation, the endoscopic operation is used for the emphysema, the pneumothorax, and the heart disease. In the laparoscopic operation, the endoscopic operation is used for the cholecystectomy or the operation of the digestive organ such as the stomach or the large intestine. The endoscopic operation is applied to various fields of diseases.
An infrared observing system disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-41942 comprises: light source means which radiates light having a first wavelength band with a wavelength of 805 nm and light having a second wavelength band without a wavelength of 805 nm; image pick-up means which picks up an image having the first wavelength band and an image having the second wavelength band of an object which is irradiated by the light radiated by the light source means; and a display device which displays the image having the first wavelength band picked-up by the image pick-up means as the green component and displays the image having the second wavelength band as at least one of the red component and the blue component. With the above-mentioned structure, the reflected light having the second wavelength band can be observed with high contrast.
However, the endoscopic operation is a complicated treatment because an operator cannot directly touch the affected part and thus there is no tactile sensation. Further, as compared with the case in which the operator directly observes the affected part, it is pointed that the difference from the open surgery, in the resolution of a display image or stereoscopic sense causes difficulties. Particularly, the artery beating cannot be recognized by the tactile sensation for the bloodflow information in the field of view and thus the bloodflow rate on the peripheral side is not evaluated. The presentation of the information to the operator is a serious subject to be solved.